Pop-up and Movable Books

I remember how ingenious I thought pop-up books were when I was a kid, now you can find out all about them. Take a tour through their history at this site. They first made their appearance in early books by Ramón Llull (c.1235-1316) of Majorca, a Catalan poet. Then they continued to be refined to this very day.

I found the information on the movables dealing with anatomy fascinating, here’s a little bit of information about them:

“Other types of movables, in particular ‘turn-up’ or ‘lift-the-flap’ mechanisms were in use as early as the fourteenth century. They were especially helpful in books on anatomy, where separate leaves, each featuring a different section of the body, could be hinged together at the top and attached to a page. This technique enabled the viewer to unfold, for instance, multiple depths of a torso, from ribcage to abdomen to spine.”

The other really cool thing about this site is that after you read about how pop-ups and movables came to be you can navigate through various publishers on the side bar. Each publisher section has working examples of pop-ups and movables. You can check them all out. There are antique examples all the way to current examples like Popeye’s animated adventure.

I particularly enjoyed S and J Fuller’s section—you can dress their little character in different outfits. It is really neat. Check it out!